Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday exhorted the civil servants to utilise the great opportunity provided by the service to work for social and economic integration and also progress and development of the country.
Addressing the civil servants on the occasion of the ninth Civil Services Day organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms (DARPG), Prime Minister Modi urged the civil servants to maintain a positive outlook, convert adversity into opportunity and strive towards perfection.
"Your life should not become a file," he said.
He said national unity today implied an end to the digital divide, urban-rural divide, and all forms of socio-economic inequity.
Prime Minister Modi said the entire administrative machinery today should be geared up to serve the needs of society.
On the subject of good governance, the Prime Minister said it requires the ART of Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency.
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He said that as the Indian economy moves from 'scarcity' to 'plenty', the civil services required capacity-building to be able to better serve the people. The
Prime Minister Modi urged the senior civil servants to spend time in motivating youth to aspire for, and join the civil services, to ensure that the best talent was available to the government.
He referred to a Goldman-Sachs report which said it will take India a decade to reach the Asian average on government effectiveness.
Prime Minister Modi said that while political interference was undesirable, political intervention was necessary to ensure people-friendly governance in a democracy.
He urged the civil servants to end the 'silo-approach' and work as a team.
The Prime Minister said that teams of officers from various states should take up as case-studies, the award winning projects, and ensure that these are adopted as best practices, wherever possible.
He called upon all civil services to develop an institutional memory.
Prime Minister Modi conferred the 'Awards for Excellence in Public Administration' for the years 2012-13 and 2013-14 to outstanding initiatives in Public Administration.
A book on 'Best Practices - Tomorrow is Here' was also released by the Prime Minister.